kahlanguagefandomcom-20200214-history
Interjections
Kah has a set of interjections expressing a wide variety of moods and other additional information. Words like "yes" and "also, too" are part of this set, but also an exclamation with a vocative aspect. These interjections may occur anywhere in the sentence, but a common position would be directly preceding the main verb like in the following examples: yu ho jam he truly do he truly did it! oi jam adhort do do it, then! But when things get emotional they -naturally- end up in front of the utterance, topicalized: yiii! kwenga! eek spider eek, a spider! yai! yai! hurt hurt ouch! that hurts! hee, haya awau? ugh, what this? ugh, what is this? nong wa jam not i do no I did not Along with the intensity of the expressed emotion, these markers are stretched: yooi minis oh be unfortunate how unfortunate! heea ba! mole pabos! hey mister lose wallet hey mister! you've lost your wallet! Lo A very prominent interjection mainly denoting focus is lo. It can be used as a means of placing some very simple emphasis at the end of utterances like: wa denu, lo i go, then I'm going then hea lo! pay attention foc watch it, you! Also, it can be used as a little step to further conversation: lo, haya jam? foc what do well, what shall we do? lo... foc so… It can express contrast to an earlier statement as well: eo lo! yes then am too! nong lo! no then are not! Question A very important interjection is ha, which is the basic question particle. It tends to show up at the end of a sentence, as it is not usually the topic of a question. weyun ha? see q. did you see it? Emil lu ha? Emile be at q. Is Emile in? When ha is topicalized, the translation would be something like: ha moso le? q. milk have say, do you have milk? ha weyun Lih? q. see lee hey, did you see Lee? Negation Negation too is expressed with an interjection usually occurring in front of the main verb: nong keju not want I don't want to Moirah nong tengi muno moira not can drive Moira can't drive nong, ya nong ten not, it not be possible no, that won't be possible Interjections in general and the ones for negation and question in particular can be combined: nong lu ha? not be at q. is he not in? nong jo ha? not know q. didn't you know? ha nong jo? q. not know didn't you know then? List The entire list of interjections reads: ha - question marker nong - no, not eo - yes, indeed hau - ha! amusement he - ugh, disgust hea - hey! you there! watch out! used to draw attention of a person far away om - let us, expresses a wish, optative lo - focus, "doch" "am to!" emphasizes the previous word soi - please, polite request mai - hi, hello, introduces many greetings ho - really, truly ea - hey, "let me", interest wu - wow, whoah, awe, how very, what hoi - huh? surprise yai - pain oi - come on! adhortative nye - yay! amusement, happiness yoi - oh dear, oh my, sympathy, grief, woe sus - shh! be quiet! woi - oops wong - aargh, why I... anger woa - aah! disappointment a - er, indecision s - psst, used to draw attention in a crowded, noisy place